Minimum Wage; Are you better off on the dole?

white apples · 09-03-2009 03:40AM

I actually didn't know that. Guess I'm still stuck in the Tax Free Allowance days.

So

work for 40 hours for €346 OR
Don't work and get €302.30

That's a difference of 44 EUR for 40 hours work?

TwoShedsJackson · 09-03-2009 10:02AM

Imani Gifted Statement wrote: »

And what do you do then? What are you on? You are obviously living under a rock, completely oblivious to world events. The money that he is on is a lot more than a lot of graduates, a lot of graduates are on social welfare, like myself, who cannot find work. Simple as.

I work in a bookshop and am on about 40k. I don't have a degree.

My point was not to insult him for wasting three or four years on a degree in order to earn a euro a day more than someone who walks into McDonalds and starts flipping burgers but more that people shouldn't think that gettin a degree entitles them to a decent job, nor should they be letting themselves be exploited by unscrupulous employers in the field they have their degree in.

speedboatchase · 09-03-2009 10:58AM

40k in a bookshop? Do you write the books?!

scorpioishere · 09-03-2009 11:07AM

Some people are so lazy to work here and dnt bother to work early or late shift or even week end.
I feel sorry for them as they are fooling themselves. All they want is easy life, free benefits and free money. And these people are the first to come and complain.

scorpioishere · 09-03-2009 11:14AM

I know lots of people here in this country working and being on the dole too, so i am not surprised why the figure keeps rising. The government should open eyes on this. If you lost a job, you go and find another one. Dnt spend the day in bed watching the tv and wait for the day to get the dole money. People are getting so much facilities here that they are becoming so lazy. You have to move on, be a hard worker and earn your own money, dnt depend on others to help you. Lost of people are using recession as an excuse.:mad:

mickoneill30 · 09-03-2009 11:28AM

white apples wrote: »

work for 40 hours for €346 OR
Don't work and get €302.30

That's a difference of 44 EUR for 40 hours work?

You will be promoted if you're halfway decent. You may also get overtime. And you'll get experience for when you're looking for your next job.

You'll never be promoted on the dole.

I'm sure a lot of people here started off on minimum wage or less that are on a hell of a lot more now.

So yes, you're better off now. In 5 / 10 / 15 years I wouldn't imagine so.

TwoShedsJackson · 09-03-2009 12:09PM

speedboatchase wrote: »

40k in a bookshop? Do you write the books?!

No

it's a managerial/admin type position and I've been here nearly 20 years.

Wagon · 09-03-2009 12:33PM

scorpioishere wrote: »

I know lots of people here in this country working and being on the dole too, so i am not surprised why the figure keeps rising. The government should open eyes on this. If you lost a job, you go and find another one. Dnt spend the day in bed watching the tv and wait for the day to get the dole money. People are getting so much facilities here that they are becoming so lazy. You have to move on, be a hard worker and earn your own money, dnt depend on others to help you. Lost of people are using recession as an excuse.:mad:

Absolute bollocks. People have been appliying for jobs all over the place, full time and part time and there's nothing available. There's obviously some who are just chancing their arm but it's pretty ignorant to just write them all off as wasters.

Morzadec · 09-03-2009 02:52PM

I'm a student just finishing my last year in college and I'm thinking that the dole is a very attractive option for me next year.

I've been working a mininum wage job for the last 3 and a half years while in college, bringing in on average about 100e a week which is enough for me as I'm living at home. Work more (close to full time) over Christmas and the summer to pay for holidays.

However next year when I finish my course I really cant see myself getting more than 2 days a week in my job, which would mean I'll be taking in roughly 150e a week. I'll obviously look for another job but prospects are not good at the moment. It's pretty obvious that I'll be better off on the dole. I don't particularly enjoy my job all that much and I feel I could definitley get more 'worth' out of these days not working and instead reading books, writing or playing music etc...

Going on the dole dosn't neccessarily mean you have to be a waster and watch countdown all day in my opinion. If I end up on the dole I'll be delighted with the free time and will use it to do something creative and worthwhile.

I dunno maybe the boredom/frustration of not having a job will set in. Its not my ambition to live off the dole forever but currently its looking like a decent option for the interim. For me, 200e a week is a hell of a lot of money, more than I would ever have seen in my life.
Even if my parents took 50e or so off it for rent/expenses it would still be a nice amount of cash.

thesimpsonsfan · 09-03-2009 11:04PM

doolox wrote: »

Those who wish for a reduction in the dole do not know how real economics or bargaining works.
Employers have to pay a wage sufficiently attractive enough to get and keep a workforce in their jobs. If the dole is cut and less people are qualified to get it then wages will fall as more people are forced to compete at the bottom of the labour market and will weaken bargaining power and depress wages. All the government can do in the face of wage reduction below min wage is prosecute employers, I doubt they will do that in the present climate.
Another avenue open to employers if the dole is reduced is to load more work onto the backs of the min wage workers and intensify the work they do as it becomes less attractive to give up work and go on the dole.
This work intensification is already taking place as people are let go, places shut down and more is expected at a higher level from less people.
Also expect to have to pay soon for your own uniform, training, safety equipment, tools etc as employers farm out these expenses to workers on minimum wage as a way of saving money. If the legislation does not define what services the wage covers you will see employers pushing more expense items over to the employee as they can get away with.
With most workers having weak bargaining power there will be little they can do to combat this.

I believe there is supposed to be a 7% cutback on the dole which means
€7 euro will be taken away from the 204.80 a week you are now left with exactly
what they gave you last year 197.80 a week and also the government are thinking of increasing the reduction to way lower than 200 a week and getting a job if you are very lucky these days is DEFINITELY NOT THE ANSWER for it either, whereas a lot of people are better off on the dole than working but if the government DID reduce the dole to more than 7% 1 in 10 of long term dolers are deemed to be UNEMPLOYABLE by the time they go looking for work. And another thing the recession we are facing now is going to take over 10 YEARS OR MORE
FOR ONLY OUR ECONOMY TO GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS 5 YEARS AGO
But despite all the talk about the reduction of the dole a lot of others are actually saying that FAS should be abolished despite all the money the government is spending into it

thesimpsonsfan · 18-03-2009 05:59PM

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Please mail that to:
Dr. Bollocko,
CO Altavista,
10 years ago.

**** OFF THEN I AM ONLY TELLING YOU

YOU ****ING SPA

ronano · 18-03-2009 06:06PM

galwayrush wrote: »

Being self employed and finding it tough to collect money, there are many weeks when i would have really appreciated the minimum wage in my pocket on a friday.:(

so true

only reason i'm not on the dole is the emotional impact of not having hope in the current economic climate.

Highsider · 18-03-2009 06:19PM

TBH i don't know how anyone could survive on 8.65 an hour for a 40 hour week. Then again the dole is what 200 blips a week so that's impossible to live on iswell. Jesus the food bill alone is over 200 a week in our house. 8.65 is slavery imo.

Highsider · 18-03-2009 06:20PM

thesimpsonsfan wrote: »

I believe there is supposed to be a 7% cutback on the dole which means
€7 euro will be taken away from the 204.80 a week you are now left with exactly
what they gave you last year 197.80 a week and also the government are thinking of increasing the reduction to way lower than 200 a week and getting a job if you are very lucky these days is DEFINITELY NOT THE ANSWER for it either, whereas a lot of people are better off on the dole than working but if the government DID reduce the dole to more than 7% 1 in 10 of long term dolers are deemed to be UNEMPLOYABLE by the time they go looking for work. And another thing the recession we are facing now is going to take over 10 YEARS OR MORE
FOR ONLY OUR ECONOMY TO GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS 5 YEARS AGO
But despite all the talk about the reduction of the dole a lot of others are actually saying that FAS should be abolished despite all the money the government is spending into it

Emm 7% of 204.80 a week is'nt 7 euro mate.

ainz · 18-03-2009 06:22PM

Hi All,

Interesting topic...

Im on the dole since jan, got offered a job at min wage, told them will take it and am due to start on monday, only thing im still not sure as by the time i have petrol in my car n food for lunch etc... is it worth it??? Am i better off on the dole?? I know if i take the job i get to meet people looks good on CV...

sdanseo · 18-03-2009 06:27PM

I'm in college but with no job and going potty from nothing to do - theres only so much going out to pubs and clubs you can do, boredom still happens.

On topic, minimum wage is €330 a week, for 39hrs. The "full" dole is €202 - i know i could find a use for the extra €130, dunno about the rest of you - and id prefer to be working at least part-time. Anyone who's on the dole in the current climate and doesnt need to be should be deported or culled, tbh. Although maybe better that than them taking a job off someone with a brain...

ainz wrote: »

Hi All,

Interesting topic...

Im on the dole since jan, got offered a job at min wage, told them will take it and am due to start on monday, only thing im still not sure as by the time i have petrol in my car n food for lunch etc... is it worth it??? Am i better off on the dole?? I know if i take the job i get to meet people looks good on CV...

Take the fúcking job. Don't be a scrounger and believe me you'll go potty bored if you don't.

unnameduser · 18-03-2009 06:45PM

The minimum wage job can be a stepping stone for you. Doesnt mean you are stuck with it for life.

dr.bollocko · 18-03-2009 07:08PM

thesimpsonsfan wrote: »

**** OFF THEN I AM ONLY TELLING YOU

YOU ****ING SPA

/sigh.
Banned.

doolox · 05-04-2009 09:22AM

I'd take the job and see how it goes. If the work is not too intensive and the people are not assholes it might work out in your favour. You might get access to courses and experience which you won't get on the dole. Ask everybody about their jobs, people love talking about their jobs and are very open about how to get them etc.....
Find the person witha well paying job you would like to do and start getting the courses/skills etc needed for that job.
If, on the other hand, the job turns nasty and the boss is an asshole you can always leave but do so in your own time and as civilly as you can. Don't walk off after 2 weeks in a temper. I'd give a job 5-6 months at least to rule out temporary blips in the system. If the boss is still an asshole after 5-6 months chances are he will always be one........
The big danger is getting back on the dole and getting all the bennies you will have lost by taking up a job, this can take 9 weeks or more and you will have to live on fresh air until then and not get sick or need rent etc.... until the relevant departments get you back on their books and get the benefits re-instated.
People will need a nest-egg of some sort in the future to allow them to skip into and out of jobs more easily without fear of being rock-bottom broke for the time it takes to get the dole nowadays.

Joey the lips · 05-04-2009 09:37AM

Your never better off on the dole. But sometimes it makes financial sense.

Bordom is a big killer on the dole.

My local community organisation told me they hope I never find work as I am doing so much for them now.

I told them any chance of getting paid????

Gazza22 · 05-04-2009 09:39AM

No. Contribute to society instead of adding another lesion to this damned country.

tfitzgerald · 05-04-2009 09:58AM

Joey the lips wrote: »

Your never better off on the dole. But sometimes it makes financial sense.

i agree with joey i was on the the dole for a while but when i was offered a job i wanted by the time i had finished paying for travel childminder food ect i would have being better off at home by a lot. buti still took the job just to get back out in the world

dublinario · 05-04-2009 10:21AM

Isn't it clear by now that our scientists should be working furiously, figuring out a way to induce hibernation in Irishmen? We need to snuggle up in caves and wait this thing out. Leave one person un-hibernated -- a caretaker, if you will -- to visit the caves and tuck us all in, make sure we're warm and cosy.

He should be carefully selected though, to ensure he's not the sort that would take advantage of our slumber and fondle us. If I wake up after a year and my boxers are on back to front, I'll be furious.

Mr.Lizard · 05-04-2009 10:28AM

If you think of it in just pure monetary+freetime terms then yes you're probably better off on the dole. However if you think of it terms of an investment in self then you're better to do the minimum wage job. Think of it as a stepping stone to somewhere else.

If I was employing someone I'd be more interested in the person who was working than the person who just sits around on their arse all day collecting social welfare. Plus in pure psychological terms it's not good for a persons ego or ability to interact socially to be out of work. Having a job (even an unrewarding one) gives benefit that more than just money, even if many short-sighted people sometimes forget it.

Gazza22 · 05-04-2009 10:31AM

dublinario wrote: »

Isn't it clear by now that our scientists should be working furiously, figuring out a way to induce hibernation in Irishmen? We need to snuggle up in caves and wait this thing out. Leave one person un-hibernated -- a caretaker, if you will -- to visit the caves and tuck us all in, make sure we're warm and cosy.

He should be carefully selected though, to ensure he's not the sort that would take advantage of our slumber and fondle us. If I wake up after a year and my boxers are on back to front, I'll be furious.

HE? I don't know about you but this would be my 'caretaker'

dublinario · 05-04-2009 10:44AM

Gazza22 wrote: »

HE? I don't know about you but this would be my 'caretaker'

Jesus, what the hell was I thinking? You're right Gazza, of course. And for the record, there'll be no boxer shorts now that we've reduced the gender-pool of our future caretaker. There'll be no clothes of any description, except maybe a butt plug to protect against the possibility that the caretaker is a hermaphrodite.

thedolemoocher · 24-04-2009 02:48PM

Highsider wrote: »

Emm 7% of 204.80 a week is'nt 7 euro mate.

Unemployment benefits are cutting 10 % off so you are left with

€20.50

theforeigner · 03-07-2009 09:44PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

You'll just end up on boreds.

There's a friend of mine who thinks that having a job takes your freedom AWAY nothing more nothing less.
He is very quiet and VERY AGGRESSIVE at times (some people would say he is a depressed LOSER) when he is asked something like: why dont you get a job? his reply to that is: i dont want a job.

He is then asked Why?

His reply again would be:

I dont want to be on someone elses time clock
I dont want to be told how many holidays i can take a year
I dolnt want to be slaving away for the rest of my life
I dont want to die old with PENNIES
I DEFINITELY DONT to be getting up in the morning for someone else
whether or not you are payed well and then excepting paycuts then 40 years later you sit back and CROKE IT and have NOTHING to show for it
SO WHAT'S THE POINT?

What a life wasted that is.

That would be his reply to that paticular question if you know what i mean.

The only thing he does with himself when he gets out of bed at about 12 or 1 0 clock in the day (sometimes LATER) he just smokes hash and browses on the internet every day of the week and dosent regret one second of not having a job

Any suggestions from anyone PLEASE?

Zillah · 03-07-2009 09:51PM

Quotin' from page 1 in this thread:

Peared wrote: »

The difference between the minumum wage and dole in a lot of cases is dignity imo.

Dignity? I'd consider working a servile job for a pittance to be quite undignified.

Venom · 03-07-2009 10:04PM

Zillah wrote: »

Quotin' from page 1 in this thread:

Dignity? I'd consider working a servile job for a pittance to be quite undignified.

+1

Minimum Wage; Are you better off on the dole?

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